A Growing Sense of Freedom
by PoisonIvies
Summary: When Ivy is offered the chance of freedom, to work for Dr. Crane, the up-and-coming new doctor at Arkham, what will she choose? Surely any type of freedom is better than being locked in a glass cage? Rated T for now. Bruce Wayne x OC, J. Crane x OC.
1. A Potted Plant

Chapter One

There was so little to do in this place, it was all I could do to stop myself gouging my own eyes out in sheer boredom. I sighed and tilted my head back against the dirty ceramic wall, my eyes heading towards the damp patches on the ceiling, the grew like yellow cigarette burns on the white peeling paint.

I balled up the piece of paper in my hand and threw it at the damp ceiling. It stuck. That was disgusting. I glanced at it for a moment longer to see whether it would unpeel itself and fall again; it didn't show any chance of budging. I pushed myself up off the floor and headed to the doors, they weren't locked at this time of the day so I pushed them open and stepped bare foot into the cold and wintery court yard. I didn't mind the cold concrete under my bare feet and I headed over to the only bench that wasn't broken in the entire square.

I liked it outside. It felt so much better than being trapped in that building, as we were for so many hours of the day, when the doors were locked because it was deemed 'unsafe' for us to be outside. This was Gotham after all; regardless of whether news was infiltrating this four walls or not, we still new what it was like. Enough. I looked back up at the building behind me, with contempt on my face and strongly hoped that it would simply fall down with the intensity of my gaze.

'Gotham's Girls Institute' was an orphanage/young woman's home. A place where they took all the abandoned or alone girls in the city, and quite literally, dumped them in a cage to rot until the home considered them fit for release. Either in there to rot or to gather the will to get out and make something of yourself. The only thing good about this place was that in the spring and the summer, the garden, the place where I was currently sitting; came to life. It bloomed into fantastic colours of red, pink, yellow and green, each year bringing a little injection of happiness into this place. I leaned over to the left and ran my fingers along the stem of one of the rose plants, letting my fingers run over the thorns, in a way so I wouldn't get cut, my fingertips moving up to where I knew the new buds would start to surface in a few long weeks time.

"IVY! ARE YOU INSANE? YOU'LL CATCH YOUR DEATH OF COLD OUT HERE" I looked up as I heard the voice of one of the care staff from the doorway. She had an angry expression on her face that did nothing to make her look anymore beautiful in the horrible graying aprons that the institute staff wore.

"Get in here this instant!" she said after I didn't move from my seat. I looked at her steadily through a moment, before getting to my feet and moving silently back to the doorway. As I came within arms reach, she roughly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me inside.

"What on earth were you thinking? It's freezing out there!" she said shutting the door with a slam. I said nothing and watched dispassionately as she locked the door with a key that hung on her belt. Locked from the outside for another day, because sure as hell they wouldn't open it again for us today after this incident.

I still said nothing to her as she took me up the stairs to the first landing of the building, the sounds of children shouting at each other becoming clearer with every step.

"Now why don't you go upstairs and clean yourself up, you've got half an hour before your appointment with the new doctor" said the woman with her hands on her thickening waist.

I didn't reply to her even then, I just moved around her and headed on up the stairs, the three flights up the penultimate floor and the floor where my shared room was situated. Three girls shared this room and it showed; it was a complete tip. I stepped lightly over the clean and dirty piles of clothes that frequented the floor, and avoided stepping on the half-eaten bowl of cereal that one of my roommates and snuck up here after breakfast this morning. I headed over to the wardrobe and opened it out to be presented with all that was mine in the world.

Looking over the contents was intensely disheartening because the sum total of what was in here was two pairs of jeans, a black mini skirt, three t-shirts and a fake leather jacket. The pair of pyjama trousers I was wearing at the moment were damp at the bottoms, and I pulled them off along with the top. I hung them over the rail on the side of my top bunk bed, hoping that they might dry off somewhat before I wore them to bed tonight.

I pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white v-necked t-shirt. I pulled my long red hair out of my collar as I shoved the shirt on. My hair was my greatest asset in my opinion; beautiful red curls that reached down to my hips. It was natural as well, dark red like the leaves on the trees in the autumn. I headed over to the bathroom and flicked the light on, before washing my face with a cool splash of water, my green eyes stared back at me in the cracked and dirty mirror.

Some of the people who had come and gone through the institute had called me a beauty, a stunner. I couldn't see it really. Then again, I never had access to make up, or any sort of hair products. I was just me, plain and natural, and boring. Until I got out of here, I guessed it was going to have to stay that way.

"Ivy!" I heard my name called up the stairs and my eyes flicked in the mirror to the clock that hung on the wall in the bedroom. It had only been twenty minutes; this new doctor must be a keen one. I flitted out of the room and down the stairs towards the interview rooms. I saw a warden and a young man I didn't recognise stood outside one of the rooms as I headed towards them. This must be the new doctor; he had short brown hair and wore glasses that framed dark brown eyes, he was holding a briefcase and something about his demeanor suggested an sort of intense calmness, if ever that emotion were possible.

"Ah, Ivy" said the warden whose name was Mr. Haal, I guessed he must have been of Swedish origin or something, "This is your new doctor; he's called Dr. Crane".


	2. Putting Out The Feelers

A/N

Thank you to my first reviewer! In answer to your question - As this is set in the Nolanverse I would like to stick to that ideal of gritty reality rather than some of the more "imaginative" aspects of the comics. I hope I don't disappoint!

Also, I know there's been two chapters in two days. It won't stay this way! (Sorry!) I had these chapters pre-written. I will try and keep it at 1-2 updates a week, but I can't promise anything. Thanks for understand.

I

X

Chapter Two

"Why are you here?" I said after a moment of silence in the cold and bare interview room. There was nothing in here except a desk and two chairs, one on either side.

"Ivy, I'm your new doctor…" he explained.

"Yes but why you and not the old git who came last week?" I asked, "Why did I need somebody new?"

"Dr. Bennett has moved on to different case work now and will no longer be coming to see you" said the man in a smooth voice that strangely matched his appearance.

"I don't need to see anyone," I said and folded my arms across my chest, "I'm not crazy"

Dr. Crane smiled slowly and nodded his head slightly, "I'm sure you're not honey, but the institute still requests that I come every week to have a little chat to you"

"Don't patronise me," I said to him, narrowing my eyes slightly. He didn't say anything, but his chocolate eyes seemed to be taking a measure of me. He was a psychiatrist after all.

"How old are you Ivy?" asked Crane

"You mean they didn't tell you?" I asked him with a smirk. I may not be insane, but I sure as hell didn't let strangers in. Crane didn't say anything, he just opened his hands in a gesture for me to speak.

"Seventeen" I said quietly.

"Seventeen?" he asked, "A little old to still be in the institute?"

"They didn't think I was okay to be let out when I was sixteen," I said quietly, "Me having come down with plant poisoning for a month over my birthday didn't help"

"Quite" said the Dr, his eyes narrowing slightly as he made a note on some form or other he had taken out of his bag, "How did you come to get plant poisoning?"

"Another kid put some poison ivy in my food," I said with a shrug, looking down at my interlaced pale hands, "I just remember being really sick for a while and then I don't really remember much else until I started to get better. Apparently the toxins in the plant worked their way deeply into my system and made me really sick. But then I got better, and I worked at getting stronger and fitter than any of the others; so that could never happen again"

"Hmmm," said Dr. Crane looking down at the form, which I now realised must be my case study, "Would you consider yourself to have any friends here?"

I paused for a moment and then shrugged, "The girls I room with aren't too bad. I wouldn't exactly spill my deepest secrets to them"

"You have deep secrets Miss Reed?" he asked gently.

I shrugged again and raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't everyone?"

The Doctor smiled and said nothing as his brown eyes met mine, his calculating look doing nothing to hide his thoughts. He looked slightly mischievous and clearly didn't care that I knew it. He seemed to be appraising me more than diagnosing me and something about his glare made me uneasy and at the same time, interested me.

"So what's the diagnosis Doc?" I asked him leaning back on my chair, away from the intense stare, "Am I crazy?"

Crane couldn't help but hold back a chuckle at that, "No Ivy, I do not think you're 'crazy' in the conventional sense of the word. But then again, I don't really know enough about you yet to fully tell"

I smirked, "Can't you see it in my eyes?"

He didn't say anything but he was looking into my eyes; hazel into green. I didn't lower my gaze as he considered me.

"Why are you barefoot Miss Reed?" he asked out of the blue

"I just prefer it that way," I said, "Especially outside"

He smiled again, "It might be alright in this place, but I suspect when you get let out of here, that wouldn't be a good idea"

I shrugged again, "There's a time and a place right? Here can be that place. For now"

"What do you know about Gotham, Miss Reed?" he asked changing the subject.

I bit my lip for a moment before answering, "Not a lot. This place is quite… sheltered. I know enough though"

"Of course you do," he said in way that was strangely not-at-all patronising.

I didn't say anything, not sure which direction this conversation was going. There was a moment's pause as he studied me again and then the little bell on the desk trilled, notifying us that our twenty minutes was up.

"Alright Miss Reed, I'll see you again next week. May I suggest that you stay out of the garden in this weather if you're not to be locked in all the time?" said Dr Crane with something of a friendly smile on his face.

"How did you know about that?" I asked as I got up.

"Ivy, they don't bring in here as your 'therapist' for no reason whatsoever" he said as he too got up, "It's not exactly normal to be out barefoot when there's ice around"

I couldn't help but smirk at his analysis before I shrugged and headed for the door, "Alright well, I'll see you next week."

I let myself out and nodded to the door warden who was outside, checking I hadn't leapt on Dr. Crane and strangled him to death. As if I was likely to do that; as I kept telling them, I wasn't crazy.

I was just intensely bored. I wanted to get out of this place; into the city. Start a college degree in botany and set up my own herbal medicines shop. Nothing too ambitious to begin with. I just took great joy in things that grew, things that were; with little or no help from us. Also, after my illness, I was fascinated with the power that natural things could have over the human body. People thought bullets were terrible, but then they hadn't seen the power of deadly nightshade.

Maybe soon they would let me go. I needed two months rent in my pocket and access to some garden. Then I would be satisfied.


	3. Planting The Seeds

Chapter Three

"Ivy?" I rolled my eyes at the wall before rolling over to peer over the edge of the rail on my top bunk. Lia, a girl I roomed with was stood on the floor looking up at me. Her baby like face with its sweet blue eyes did nothing to portray her scheming mind behind it.

"Yeah?" I asked her, my tone of voice telling her that was I entirely uninterested with what she had to say.

"What was Dr Crane like?" she asked, "I've got an appointment with him tomorrow"

I smirked, I wasn't crazy, but Lia, in the conventional sense of the word was. She had some form of a nervous disposition. I had no idea what exactly it was but it was something to do with an event that had happened to her when she was a child. It meant that she could fly off the handle and go a bit bananas at various times. There was no knowing what triggered it, which is why she, like I, had weekly counseling sessions with the doctor.

"He's alright, not necessarily easy to talk to, but I'm sure you'll be fine" I said

"Hmm, he looked really young" she said

"He's quite young," I said shortly, trying to direct this conversation towards its end so I could get back to reading my book.

Lia didn't give up though, "Leanna said he was quite handsome"

"Leanna thinks every guy is quite handsome" I said, "I suppose he's not ugly, I wasn't looking that closely"

"Yeah right, you can't deny that you like looking at the guys too" she muttered, "Shut up in here without a second of male company other than the wardens…"

I shrugged and lifted my book up to let her know I was no longer interested in continuing this inane chat. She huffed and turned to walk away but her thoughts stuck in my head. I supposed Dr. Crane wasn't bad looking, but I honestly hadn't looked at him in that way. I saw him as someone, who if he signed all the necessary papers, could get me out of here and let me start my life.

Something that I was so desperate to do.

As I was seventeen, I didn't have to go to the school attached to the institute full time. I only went for three days a week to complete my studies. I was currently taking Biology, Biochemistry, English Literature and Latin. A strange combination of subjects I know, but the way I saw it, they all interested me, so I might as well be interested in what I was doing.

I only had a few more weeks of studying to do until I got some form of certification for my work. I didn't know how much use a certificate of education would be in Gotham, I didn't think a huge amount of employers were interested in that. I think they cared more about your criminal record and whether your father was in the mob. I had no father to influence things either way, so the only person I could rely on was myself.

Right now, however, I was in P.E. Regardless of whether we were in school or not, we had compulsory physical exercise every day. Today it was high jump. I liked sport, I was good at it because of my long legs that could move fast and my surprisingly agile body. Everybody wanted me on their team in sport, and it felt good, it felt good to have that physical advantage over these people who I _knew _I had a mental advantage over as well. I enjoyed feeling the power that the human body had, and the power the mind possessed to urge that body to go to it's extremes. To push itself. I also loved P.E because it was always outside. Regardless of whether it was winter or summer, it was the one time of the day where we were allowed outside. We were supervised of course, but to me that didn't matter. It was nice just to be able to the sky, the trees and the cut back plants, which would oh so soon burst forth into life.

"Hey Ivy" said Lia jogging over to me after I completed a 1.3m jump.

"Yeah?" I asked looking at her dispassionately. I'm not sure why this girl insisted on talking to me all the time; she annoyed the crap out of me.

"Did you hear that Dr. Crane thinks I should be put up to get out of here?" she asked excitedly.

That got my attention, "When did he say that?"

"Apparently he told Mother Watson yesterday that he thought I was alright and because I'm sixteen next month, my getting ready to leave should be set into motion," said she excitedly, her blue eyes glinting with something that could have been malice. She knew that this was a subject close to me and she hadn't come over here merely to _inform_ me.

I opened my mouth to speak but found, for the first time in my life, that I had nothing to say. Why did Dr. Crane think that Lia was alright to get out of here? She definitely had issues _and_ she was a year and a bit younger than me. What the hell?

"What's the matter Ivy?" asked Lia, now definitely taunting me, "Upset?"

I didn't say anything to her just shook my head, "Of course not. There's got to be some reason why they think it's okay to release you. My time will come."

Lia narrowed her eyes because she clearly didn't believe my spiel and a smirk edged its way onto her face, "Sure, whatever Ivy"

She walked away with a skip in her step and it was all I could do to stop myself running after her and bringing her to the floor. I didn't because I didn't want to find myself locked in for the next two days. The only problem with my love of being outside and the sense of feeling free that it gave me; the people here had something over on me. They knew exactly what my punishment was if I did lose my temper and hit someone. The last girl who'd annoyed me so much that I lashed out had had a black eye for two weeks. Well at the end of the two weeks it had been more yellow than black, but you get my point.

"What the hell?" I asked storming into the room with Dr Crane in at my appointment the next week. Lia hadn't stopped rubbing it in my face for the last two days and even though I had held myself back about not smacking her in the jaw, it had done nothing to approve my temper. I did need answers however.

"Nice to see you again Ivy" he said with a relaxed smile on his face, looking completely unperturbed by my entrance.

"Why are Lia's papers on the way for her getting out of here and yet I haven't?" I said without sitting down.

"Lia doesn't belong here," he said softly.

"Neither do I!" I shouted vehemently leaning on the desk, my red hair falling down past my elbows. I was about to lose it big style.

"I know," he said softly, cutting off my next tirade of words that were on the way out of my mouth.

"What?" I asked a lot softer than before.

"Ivy, what are you going to do when you do get out of here?" he asked me

"Uh-," I said stopping short, "I don't know, something to do with natural remedies"

Dr. Crane smiled again and I couldn't help but let a small smile grace my own mouth. I realised then that I was still stood up with my hands on the desk and I felt a little foolish, I pulled the chair out and sat down.

"Do you know what I do?" asked Dr. Crane

"Uh, you're a therapist?" I asked motioning to the other side of the desk.

"I'm actually a pharmaceutical scientist, but I am in training to do psychiatry as well" he said

"You work with drugs?" I asked with a smirk

"In a way" he said, "But isn't that what you want to do?"

"Only natural ones" I said and he grinned at me.

"Miss Reed, most 'artificial' drugs we have these days, come from an origin of plant properties. We looked at what they did and made them better" he said to me.

"Maybe sometimes you didn't have to," I said thinking about my poisoning incident when I was younger.

"Maybe" he said with a shrug, "There is a reason I didn't push forward your papers Ivy. I don't want you tossed out onto the streets like Lia will be, with no way to help or fend for yourself."

"Why?" I said with a suspicious look in his direction; nobody ever wanted something for nothing.

"Because I want you to come and work for me when you get out of here"


	4. Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Chapter Four

I was sat down at breakfast the following morning contemplating what Dr. Crane had said to me yesterday. It was, on face value, a very attractive offer. He worked in pharmaceutical medicine; which was the field I wanted to go into and he had offered me a ticket out of here. He had told me to consider his offer and get back to him next week, not to make any rash decisions on my future.

But what was the price? I had had difficulty trusting people all my life and I couldn't help but wonder _why_ Crane wanted to help me. What was in it for him? Or was he really just helping me out? I mean I'd only been in his 'treatment' for two weeks and he had already decided he wanted to give me a chance. What had he seen in me that others had previously ignored? These questions had been whirling through my head since yesterday and I hadn't had a very good night's sleep as a direct result.

The downside of Crane's offer would be I didn't know the man and I would be leaving behind everything I knew. I had been in this old and draughty house for a very long time now, my early childhood memories were snatches and glimpses in my mind. It was strange, I had yearned about leaving this place for years and years, and now that there was an actually opportunity to get out of here, I was actually slightly afraid. I would die before I admitted to anyone else but I was scared. I think not being so would be intensely foolish. Surely everyone is apprehensive when it gets to the point of leaving everything you've ever known?

"Hey Ivy! Did you hear?" asked a voice behind me. I twisted in my seat to see Magdalena, my other roommate, coming up behind me.

"Probably not?" I said with a slight smile on my face. I had much more time for Magdalena than I did for Lia; there was something so much more genuine about her, and she always seemed to be happy. Her mother had died when she was extremely young and her father had run off with another woman, abandoning her on the step of the orphanage when she was four years old. She was clearly of Italian descent with her beautiful eyes portraying her heritage.

"Check this out" she said throwing a newspaper down in front of me. She had probably nicked it from the warden's table when they'd gone up to get their breakfast.

I looked at the black headline with a colour picture underneath it. It declared **BILLIONAIRE BRUCE RETURNS FROM THE DEAD**, with a picture of a slightly grumpy looking Bruce Wayne pictured underneath. I looked over the article which talked about how Bruce Wayne, 'Prince of Gotham', a man who had been declared missing probably dead, when he had simply vanished off the face of the earth seven years ago. It said that the newly returned Mr. Wayne, son of Thomas and Martha, was in talks with the Wayne Enterprises board to save the public floating of his shares. I wasn't really interested in what was going on on the stock market, but it was fairly interesting that Gotham's biggest celebrity was now back in town. It was supposedly interesting enough that nothing else was mentioned on the front page.

"Well that's going to get the papers excited"," I said pushing the paper back towards her.

"It already has, clearly" said Magdalena with a smile as she looked at the picture, "He's very handsome isn't he?"

I raised an eyebrow at her and giggled. Apart from the fact that she was only fourteen, it was the also that Bruce Wayne was something of an A-Lister to Gotham. He had film star status, and a playboy reputation to go with it, without ever having been anywhere near the camera.

"Yeah I guess he is," I said glancing at the picture, "Well I guess it's good he's back?"

"Well it provides me with something to gawk at in the papers" she said with a giggle. Just then the bell rang for the beginning of Maggie's schooling hours.

"Well I'll guess I'll see you later Ivy, for gymnastics?" she said getting up.

"Yeah sure," I said, "Have fun in triple math!"

She pulled a face at me as she picked her bag up off the floor beside the table, stuffed the paper into it, and headed off towards the buildings adjacent to this one, where all the classrooms were situated.

I vaguely wondered where Wayne had been for seven years. That was a long time for anyone to totally disappear; to cover his tracks so completely that everyone thought he was dead. The article had mentioned 'travelling the world', but surely somebody would have seen and recognised him in that time? I tried to imagine what it would be like to simply vanish for seven years, to do what I liked, and with whom I pleased. It sounded so blissful that it couldn't be anything other than a dream.

"Ivy, can you move please, the cleaners want to get this hall ready for gym" I looked up as one of the wardens spoke to me. I was the last one in the breakfast hall, being one of the only girls who didn't have to go to school when the bell rang. I got to my feet that were clad only in socks that had a hole where my big toe poked through. That was another reason I would be glad to go work for Dr. Crane – at least I would have some money to call my own and would be able to actually buy some clothes that weren't over three years old.

I guessed that was one thing Bruce Wayne never had to worry about – money.

"Balance Magdalena, balance!" yelled the gym teacher as Maggie wobbled to-and-fro on the mothballed beam we had in the centre of the room. I watched as she put her toe down on the beam and then attempted to rise back up onto one leg. It didn't work; she fell off.

"Better luck next time," I said to her as she came to join me at the side of the beam.

"I always sucked at this" she said with a shrug, "You're up after Jenny"

"Yeah," I said as I watched the inept little girl wobble up and down the beam. As I said before, sport was my forte, I knew I could beat all of these girls into a hat when it came to gym, so I didn't really worry.

"Alright, Ivy!" I approached the beam and hoisted myself up onto it, not especially liking the feel of the torn material beneath my bare feet.

"Just mess about for a minute or so," said the gym teacher, knowing perfectly well that there was no point trying to teach me anything. I didn't really need to work on my balance or foot placement. I did a one handed cartwheel along the beam and then a handstand before jumping lightly off the end and landing. I didn't really see the point of dicking about too long, as long as I got the mark I needed to pass fitness, that's all I cared about.

"Show off" said Magdalena when I got back to the group beside the beam.

"Well I'm not quite sure why they make me get up there in the first place," I said, "I'm hardly going to stand there like a lemon"

"A lemon?" asked Maggie looking at me, "I like it…"

I giggled as we watched Lia on the beam, she was fairly apt at it, but the look of concentration on her face gave away the effort involved. As we watched a loud and ear-piercing squeak from above informed us that the intercom was about to be used.

"Will Magdalena Thorpe please report to Mother Watson's office as soon as possible please" came the voice of Mr. Haal across the system, "Thank you"

I looked to my side at Maggie who looked perplexed, "Any idea what that's about?"

"Not a clue," she said, shaking her head, "Not a clue. I'll see you back in the room before dinner?"

"Yeah sure," I said as she moved to head off to the office, "I hope it's not anything serious!"

"Me too!" she laughed nervously and then flitted off in the direction of the doors leading inside.

I was upstairs changing from my gym clothes back into my jeans and a t-shirt when Magdalena came back in. She wasn't crying or anything like that, which was always a good sign. She just had a look of intense thought on her face.

"What was it?" I asked her as she stood by her bed that was underneath mine.

"They think they can find my family" she said slowly, a totally stunned look on her face. I turned around to look her.

"They do? How?" I asked her, cautious about what my reaction should be.

"Well you know how my mother left her family when she married my father?" she asked

"Yeah," I said, she had told me this before and I wondered where this was going.

"Well they think they've found some evidence as to who my mother's family were, something that they've never known before" she said her eyes meeting mine.

"What evidence? Leading where?" I said not wanting to show emotion leading either way.

"They won't tell me until they know for sure" she said. I felt a bubbling of anger that was slightly unexplainable. I was angry because they had clearly built Maggie's hopes up without being able to offer her any confirmation of those hopes. How dare they? They had never suffered as we had – they had never had to endure having the feeling of hope snatched away.

They didn't know what it was like to have no-one in the entire world.


	5. Be Careful What You Wish For

A/N - Hey guys! Thank you to the new follower.

I was wondering if you guys might be able to help me out. I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing and the depth of my story telling - if you guys could give me any tips and pointers about what would make you enjoy this story more (other than plot direction because I've kinda got that laid out), then it would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

I

X

Chapter Five

The doors were opened officially, for recreational purposes, for the first time in a week and I stepped out into the back courtyard; it was cold and the icy fingers of the wind made short work of my holey cardigan. I went over to the locked gate that led to the outside world and a street down towards the city. If I didn't know any better I would say this was a prison. It felt like it most of the times, but we had always been told that the gates were locked to keep us safe. Gotham was a dangerous place. The mob owned the city and gangs of thugs ran rife through its streets and alleys; day and night. The city had lost its sense of honour a long time ago.

I gazed out through the gaps of the iron gates at the grimy city. It was so dirty and yet so beautiful at the same moment in my mind. I suppose that the outside always looks amazing to one of those in cage. I loved looking at the towering, dark and craggy high rises; glass shooting off at random angles to create walkways and bridges, where people with more money than sense tried to multiply their earnings. Offices stood hundreds of feet above the pavement, overlooking huge parks and of course the river that wound it's way down the side of the city and out to the glittering bay.

I could remember seeing the sea once, when I was a little girl, I remember being stood on the shore, with the sand between my toes, and watching the sunset. I couldn't remember who'd I'd be with at the time, I just recall it being an intensely beautiful sight as the sky bled from yellow, to orange and pink and then finally to red. I wanted to see the bay again, and see the sea stretching off into oblivion. I knew it was there; but I couldn't see it from here.

"You'll be there soon Ivy" a voice to my side said that I identified as Magdalena's.

"I know," I said softly, "But when? Every day seems to last forever when I know I should be starting my life out there"

"I know," she said in sympathy and laid a hand on my arm, "But it's not forever. You'll get out of here quicker than I will"

I smiled at her ruefully, "Not necessarily true"

She shrugged slightly, "Yeah, but I'm not banking on that coming to anything. I almost wish they hadn't said anything until they had something solid to tell me. Now, even if I try not to, I cannot help myself from hoping."

There was a moment of silence as we both gazed out at the city where we could hear the distant rumble of commerce, noise, crime and life.

"It's just not fair," she said after a moment of looking.

"Just to spout out the old cliché, and we know it far more than some other people; life isn't fair" I said and left the gates, heading over to the bench beside the cut back bushes. I looked at the dirt beside the bench, where the first snowdrops were coming through, they're delicate white petals looking like the palest human skin. So small and yet adding those hopes of new life to what was otherwise a dormant garden.

"I wonder who our new roommate will be when Lia leaves" said Maggie as we both sat down, her tucking her knees up under her chin.

"I don't know, I'm sure they'll find somebody, they're always turning people away from here because it's full" I said, "Do you know when she's leaving?"

"Not entirely sure," she said, "You know how long these things can take"

"Yeah I do," I said with a shrug, "I'm hoping that mine gets underway soon"

"Have they said something?" she asked looking across at me.

I hadn't told her about Dr. Crane's offer yet and I wondered whether I should. Then again, I didn't really see the harm in her knowing about it.

"Dr Crane wants me to go work for him," I said, "He offered me a job with him in his pharmaceutical work"

Maggie didn't immediately explode with joy, much like my reserved reaction to her news a few days earlier.

"You do know he works at Arkham right?" she said biting her lip slightly.

"Yeah I did," I said pushing a strand of hair back off my face as the wind made some of it curl down from the ponytail I had it in. The word Arkham would normally instill fear in people, and to me it did nothing. I didn't know whether that was bravery, or just sheer bloody ignorance.

"Well –," she started

"I don't really see why it should matter though," I said, cutting her off, "Just because he works with people at Arkham, doesn't mean he's _like_ the people at Arkham"

Magdalena considered this for a moment before shrugging again, "If it's what you want to do Ivy…"

"I'm not sure it's exactly where I want to end up, but it would certainly offer me my stepping stone out of here" I said looking backwards at the forbidding grey building we were all gathered in front of.

"It would," she agreed and looked down at the ground, "I know it sounds ridiculous considering how utterly stifling this place is but…"

She paused for a moment as if contemplating her words carefully.

"But what?" I pressed

"Just be careful what you wish for Ivy," she said with a sad smile in her eyes, "I mean I know we're all longing to get out of here, but I don't think any of us knows enough about out there, to truly know what we're getting in to. Most of that blame lies with the Wardens for not giving us enough freedom. It leaves us almost in limbo"

"It really does," I said with a flash of inexplicable annoyance as she mentioned how little freedom we had ever been given. I punched the bench beside me and watched with perverse enjoyment as it made my knuckles red and sore.

"Don't do that," said Maggie softly, not making any real attempt to stop me.

I stopped and looked across at her before shrugging, "It doesn't hurt"

"That's not the point," she said, "Lia's watching"

Without moving my head, I looked up through my long lashes to see that Lia was indeed stood on the other side of the courtyard, staring at the two of us, a look of interest on her face.

"Well she just better be glad I'm taking my frustration out here and not on her face" I said bitterly.

"As much as I would cheer you on, I'm pretty sure that would do very little on the whole Dr-Crane-is-giving-me-a-job thing," she said

"Probably" I said with a smile, "Oh well I get to see him tomorrow"

"What are you going to say?" she said looking across at me.

I looked away from her and back to the gates of the city and the life it could hold beyond. It was strange to think about it, without feeling fearful at the same moment. But this was it, it was my true chance at freedom. There was no other option.

"I'm going to say yes," I said turning back to Magdalena. She said nothing, but she smiled and moved over to hug me. It was a little odd feeling someone's arms wrapping around me, I think the last time she'd hugged me, I'd hit her in the arm, really hard, because I thought she was trying to attack me. This time, however, I relaxed, and allowed the feeling of comfort from someone else to actually help my situation.


	6. Breaking The Glass

Chapter Six

I went back into the interview room the next day with an actually smile on my face; my talk with Magdalena the previous day, and the clarifying of my thoughts had put me in a much better mood than I had been last week. I think this would be the first smile that Dr. Crane had seen from me and he clearly noticed because he actually smiled back. I took a seat opposite him at the table and waited for him to speak first.

"Have you thought about my offer?" he asked. Well there was no beating about the bush there, niceties or small talk.

"Yeah I have" I said, "Obviously. I couldn't really do much else, given the circumstances"

"Naturally" he said, "I think I would be to if I was living here"

"Well it's not quite defined as living in this place, is it?" I said with a grin.

"So I take it there was only ever one option?" he asked

"Pretty much" I said, "I'd like to take you up on your offer. It gets me out of here and on the track of my life"

He smiled, "I think you've got what it takes to do what I do, Ivy"

I was happy about this, nobody had ever told me that they thought I had what it took to do anything, "So what happens now?"

"Well I'll tell Mother Watson to start you paperwork, that I think you're a perfect candidate to leave here and let up the space for someone else. You'll then get out of here, come and live somewhere near Arkham and near me. You're rent will come out of your wages if that's alright and then you'll start working as a trainee with me" he said. All this information was said very quickly and I was a little taken aback so I didn't speak for a moment.

"Is that alright?" asked Dr. Crane again, "You look surprised"

Yeah, that's fine" I said quickly, "Just the idea of wages, nobody's ever paid me for anything before"

"Well it won't be that much if you're rent is coming out of it" he explained gently.

"Oh yeah, I get that," I said, "Bearing in mind I've never had anything – any money at all would be amazing!"

He grinned at my enthusiasm, the smile traveling up to his hazel eyes and into his angular face.

"Clearly I can't tell you too much about the work here because you'll need to sign a confidentiality agreement and the such like" he said with a passive hand.

"Oh yeah, of course," I said nodding, "Even working as an admin assistant would be fine as long as it got me out of here!"

"You might have to do that to begin with," he said with a grin, "But I suspect that everything has to be better than this"

"Quite!" I said, "I take it when you say that the apartment will be near to Arkham, you mean it'll be in the narrows?"

"Yeah it will," he said, "But it's right near mine. And as far as Gotham is concerned they're aren't really many places that are exactly 'safe'"

I shrugged, "I can take care of myself"

"I'm sure you can," he said and then paused for the emphasis, "In here"

"Well seeing as I don't know anything else, I can hardly make a different judgement, can I?" I said testily

"Probably not," said Dr Crane, "I'll need to see your consistency marks from your schoolwork, just to see where it's best to start you off. Obviously I've already seen your marks, otherwise I wouldn't have offered you the job"

I nodded and shrugged, "Well I imagine if you go ask Mother Watson for every little detail of my life then they'll have it tucked away somewhere. They know more about me than I do"

"That's probably true," he said with something of a sad smile before continuing, "What do you remember about your time before here Ivy?"

There was a silence, only broken by the ticking of the clock as I thought about this before speaking, "Almost nothing"

"Nothing?" he pressed and I was distinctly aware of the more clinical side of him being interested in my lack of memory, rather than his personal side.

"Only flashes and seconds," I said, "Nothing substantial. I don't even really remember my parents"

I could see the interest behind Dr. Crane's eyes but he didn't push the issue. I imagine that I would have plenty of time to talk to him about my lack of childhood if I was going to be working with him for the foreseeable future.

"How long d'you reckon it'll take to push everything through?" I said to break any sort of tension.

"Well if I fast track you out of here, because you have a viable path when you leave, it should take maximum of two weeks. They know my employer is a good employer so there's no reason that you shouldn't come and work for me" he said

"Not that they care that much anyway," I said

"No," he admitted, not bothering to lie, "But they can't be seen that way, now can they?"

One suitcase. That's all it took. All my worldly belongings packed into this tiny space; all my clothes, my effects, and the teddy bear that I had been clutching when I arrived at the institute. There was finality about the noise as I zipped the case up and padlocked the two tabs together.

Magdalena was stood watching me do this and looked like she was on the verge of tears. I hoped she wouldn't cry, I always hated it when people cried, showing their weakness off to the world.

Lia had gone just a few days earlier than me and the dorm now felt extremely empty with two people having packed up.

"It won't be for long," I said to Maggie, "You'll be out of here soon"

"Either that or I'll have to put up with some bitches from downstairs when they move up here" she said with somewhat of a grin, "I'll just have to enjoy the silence whilst I can"

I giggled, the bubble of my laughter even surprising myself. I looked around the room; the faded patch on the wall where I'd had tacked up a picture of me as a little girl. Some might call it self-obsessed but it was the only clue to my past that I had. I had no idea where it was taken or even how old I truly was, other than the fact I had been about three. I had been wearing a green dress, the set off my hair and eyes wonderfully, and I was stood next to a marble pillar. In the photo I was half leaning on it, half sitting on it and the smile in my eyes told me the photographer was doing something to keep me amused. Other than that there were no clues in it. The dress looked to be of nice quality, so I guessed it must have cost a bit of money. I had wondered for time to time whether it had been a gift or whether my parents had bought it for me by some mysterious benefactor.

"It definitely feels empty now," said Maggie, clearly reading my thoughts well.

"Alright," I said, not answering her, "Guess I better go, Dr. Crane said he'd pick me up at eleven"

"What is his actual name?" she said as I picked up my suitcase.

"Jonathon" I said with a smile, "He told me in my last 'counselling' session"

"Actually, he looks like a Jonathon" she said as we walked to the door. I stood in the doorway and looked back at the room, the silence actually quite oppressive. The other kids were all in school at the moment; Maggie's excuse being that she was helping me pack my meagre belongings together.

I could hear two wardens coming up from the ground floor to the first, their black flat-heeled shoes clicking on the wooden floor.

"When were they going to tell her?" I heard one voice say, anxious and low.

"Well clearly not ever, she's leaving in about ten minutes," said the other voice, "They were going to tell her when she was sixteen, and then they never did because she was ill with that poisoning thing…"

The voices trailed off as the bang of the door dictated that they went through into the main sitting room. The silence in the sterilized hallways was absolute as the voices became muted in the thick air.

I didn't even realize I was clenching my fists until Maggie reached for my hand and took it in her own. She didn't even try and pretend they weren't talking about me, that this place hadn't held back one more secret from me. When I'd told Dr. Crane that this place knew more about me than I did, I had been half joking, now I could see that it was nothing but the truth.

For once in my life I was truly speechless. My lips weren't sealed because I was locking my thoughts in my head; my lips were closed because there was nothing I could think of to say that would be adequate to announce my feelings at this moment. I knew I could run after those two wardens, and kick and scream at them in the hope that I could frighten them into telling me whatever it is they had been talking about it. I could rant and rave about conspiracy theories all I liked, but the rational part of my brain was holding me back, keeping me in check, and telling me that if I did that then I would put into forcible quarantine and the car that was on it's way here to pick me up, would leave without me.

So, for what felt like the millionth time in my life, I balled together all my feelings in one tiny ball of anger, and pushed it to the pit of my stomach. I controlled myself enough to be able to walk out of the door and down the stairs, a silent Magdalena at my side.

"Stay in touch," I said turning to her in the doorway as the gates to the courtyard opened to reveal an Audi TT pulling through it, "And I mean that. Tell me what comes of your…"

"My fluttering hopes?" she said with a small smile, "Yeah I will do"

I smiled and hugged her, the first hug I thought I had initiated in several years. She hugged me back, a tight genuine hug that portrayed some real emotions that I hadn't felt for very long time.

"Alright," I said breaking off from her, "I better go"

"See you later Ivy," she said as I walked down the steps, my case in my hand. As I walked towards the car the back door opened and Dr. Crane got out of it.

"Ivy" he said with a smile, "Ready?"

I opened the back door to the car and looked back at the building, the graying heap of rubble that had locked me away for the past twelve plus years of my life.

"Definitely" I said, and with one last smile at the beautiful Italian girl standing on the doorstep, I got into the back of the car, my whole life's belongings piled onto my lap in a battered suitcase.

"Let's go," said Dr. Crane as he snapped his own door shut. And the genuine smile was back on my face.


	7. Dreams That Come True?

A.N - Thank you to my latest reviewer! You were very helpful and it was much appreciated. I hope you guys like this one, it's a bit longer than the others; I can't promise they'll all be this length. I have a set amount of stuff that has to happen in each chapter and this one just happened to have more in it!

Thanks for your support and views,

Critical Reviews (constructive please!) are always welcomed and replied to.

Thanks,

I

X

Chapter Seven

My new apartment was on the top floor of the block and there was no lift. It didn't matter though; I had been on the top floor in the institute so I was used to the stairs. Also my case wasn't exactly heavy so that wasn't too much effort either.

It had taken us about ten minutes to ride over here from the institute through the streets of Gotham. I had spent the entire journey staring out the window, taking in all the sights that I had never seen or the ones I couldn't remember. The car had pulled up in front of this tall building, probably six storeys, but that was extremely close to all the others around it, they looked like cardboard boxes all stacked upside down, jumbled and crammed into tiny spaces. There were wires crisscrossing in between the buildings, some of them electrically, others had lines of washing tacked onto them.

Dr. Crane had told me which one of them was where my apartment (and his) was. He told me that we were going to be living in the same building and in a way I was relieved, at least it gave me some form of support system, tenuous as it was. The front door had a keypad on it, to which Dr. Crane had provided me with the code; it also looked like someone had punched it at some point in the near past. There was a large faded dent in it, which as yet hadn't been painted over. I quite liked the fact that it didn't look perfect from the outside, a little grimy and dirty around the edges. It seemed to mirror what I was like, not perfect and a little torn up around the edges.

The hallway inside was much better, painted a bright cream colour and without a patch of damp in sight. There was a narrow wooden staircase going up and up into the rafters of the building and as I looked around I saw corridors and doorways going off in all directions. It was a mess and it looked like a rabbit warren, heading off in lots of different ways. As we moved up the floors, the doors became less frequent until on the top floor there was just one. Mine.

Dr. Crane had explained he'd thought it would be safer for me on the top floor, and this vaguely made me wonder how I unsafe I could be in an apartment building with a key lock on the door. My apartment door had a standard lock on it to which Dr. Crane handed me the key, but on the inside of the door there was a chain and a latch.

"Well this is it," said Dr Crane as we walked into the apartment. From the front door you walked straight into the living area with a small kitchenette in the corner. The living room was painted the same magnolia and there was a faint smell of paint that suggested it had bee coloured recently; I wondered who had lived there before. There was a small kitchen area in the corner that was perfect for me; I had no real idea how to cook so that was perfect for me.

There was a door leading off to the bedroom; it was a small room and I could barely fit in the two feet around the double bed but that didn't matter as I was hardly likely to be practicing ballroom dancing in there. There was another door in that room that I assumed led off to the bathroom, and a single wardrobe in between the two windows.

"I thought you might like this though," said Dr Crane, who was stood in the living room whilst I put my suitcase on the bed. I moved back into the living area and saw that a door that was next to the small kitchen area stood Dr Crane.

He opened it and it led out onto a tiny balcony area that was just about big enough for one chair and some plants in pots. It didn't matter though, it was outside, and it was _mine._ I could start my garden here, and whilst it was only small it was a place I could escape to.

"It's perfect," I said turning to Dr. Crane who was stood just in the doorway.

"Well, I'm not sure I'd quite go that far" he said with a grin and a gesture at the tiny space.

"I would" I said with a simple shrug and moved to go back inside. He looked a little uncomfortable but hid it well with a non-committal gesture.

"I thought tomorrow, I would give you your first weeks wages with us, you start on Monday by the way – all cleared with the paperwork, and that you could go out and buy yourself some new clothes or something. You need some business clothes for work anyway; it would give you an opportunity to see the city as well" he said as he stood in the centre of the living space with his hands shoved in his slacks pockets.

"That would be amazing," I said with an enormous smile on my face, "I just can't believe this is all happening"

"You sound like a kid on Christmas Day" he said, his tone much more casual than I had ever heard it before.

"It's because I sort of am!" I said with a giggle, "I've never had much to call my own before and then for some reason I seem to have had nothing but good luck lately. It's like all those prayers and dreams have come true."

"Well, I'm not sure on the praying front," he said with a smirk, "To be honest I'd probably look a bit closer to home"

"So would I," I said with a giggle, "But you know what I meant"

"Yeah I do" he said and then shrugged again, "Alright, well if you're okay, I'll leave you to get settled in. The key's on the side in the kitchen, always remember to have the chain on when answering the door, always ask for ID if it's someone you don't know and… that's all I can think of at the moment. There's some basic food supplies in the fridge, you can get some more of what you like tomorrow. If you need anything else, I'm apartment 206, okay?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," I said with a smile as he turned to go, "Oh and Dr. Crane?"

He turned back towards me, his hand on the door handle.

"Truly thank you for everything you've done for me, you've been amazing in helping me," I said in a rather lame excuse for thanks.

"It's fine Ivy," he said, "You didn't belong there, you're an intelligent girl who needed to start her life. I just did what I could to help."

"And I'm thankful for that" I said, a tone of timid coming into my voice.

He nodded and opened the door before turning back to me saying, "Oh and Ivy, unless we're at work, please call me Jonathon. Dr. Crane all the time sounds too formal"

"Alright," I said happily, "I will. See you later"

He nodded again and was gone, leaving me alone in my new apartment. Even that sounded weird in my head, _my _new apartment. I know I didn't technically own it as it was a rental property but it was where I lived, and where I was going to live for the foreseeable future.

It was perfect; more space than I'd ever had to myself, and no worries about sharing it with any others. No worrying about whether I'd used up all the hot water or how long I was lying in bed – unless it was a work day of course.

I let of a squeal of pure delight and ran headfirst through the door to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, my red hair splashing out over the coverlet.

It was with a trembling hand that I reached for the envelope that had been left in the mailbox on the stairwell one down from mine. In here, I knew, was more money than I had ever held in my hands before. I turned it over and saw that someone, I assumed Dr. Crane Jonathon, had written; _Ivy, as promised. Have fun today, and be safe. _

I didn't open it in the hallway; instead I hurried back up the stairs and let myself back into my apartment. It was amazing that I could actually say those words in my head. I put the envelope down on the table and looked around; I'd made the bed out of habit and left the door to the bedroom open. There were two plates from breakfast in the sink, but I'd clear those up later. I'd opened the windows to the apartment, letting in somewhat fresh air. All the windows at the institute had had locks on them and we couldn't open them without going to fetch a warden.

I picked up the cup of tea I had left cooling on the side whilst I went downstairs to get my post. I glanced across at the envelope on the side but then decided I couldn't wait any longer and reached for it. I put my thumb under the opening and tore it open and I couldn't help but let out a gasp.

Inside there must have been $300, absolutely pittance to some people, but more money than I had ever seen before in my life.

Where would I go? I didn't know Gotham City at all and had no idea where to begin. I looked down at myself, still wearing my scratty PJ's; maybe getting dressed would be a good start.

Upon looking at the clothes that I had hung up in the wardrobe yesterday, I was so glad that I had this opportunity today. It wasn't like I was ashamed of having nothing, it's just it would be nice to have a pair of jeans that _didn't_ have holes in them, or a jacket that I hadn't had for seven years and that all the colours were fading on.

I was ready pretty quickly and headed out of my apartment, picking up the money and locking the door behind me. I walked down the stairs, my beaten-up sneakers quiet on the polished floors as I moved down the levels.

As I passed my mentor's door I was very tempted to knock but after a moment's hesitation I figured that he would be at work anyway. He was mentor, not my friend, and he wouldn't want me intruding.

I stepped out in the alleyway and looked around, it was deserted and the sun was beating down on the cracked tarmac, doing nothing for the ice that had formed overnight. I made a mental note to be back before dark and also to pick up a map so I didn't get completely lost. I followed the signposts for the subway, my hands shoved deep into my pockets as I did so. I did wonder why I hadn't been left a map with the money, but as I walked I did think it was maybe some part of a test. Maybe the Dr. wanted to see how resourceful I could be. I mean it was only a bloody map, but the fact I had been dumped into the midst of this grimy city on only my second day of freedom… maybe it was just his way of saying that it wasn't going to be easy.

I found the metro rail station and a train that would take me into the centre of the city for $4 return. The station was dirty, with chewing gum stuck in every possible nook and cranny, and dust gathered in piles. The train itself rattled as it went over the tracks and stopped on the platform. I hopped on board and sat down near the doorway. The train was basically deserted, bar a homeless man asleep at the other end of the carriage. I had my money tucked inside my jacket and I tried not to make it obvious that it was there. Not that I thought the old man was much of a threat; but you never knew.

As we pulled out of the station and started to head towards the city, I was once again glued to the window in amazement. Part of the river separated most of the narrows from the main city and we headed out over the small strip of water towards the island that housed the CBD. There were bridges crisscrossing the water in all directions, with cars and people headed about their daily business on them. As we stopped at various stations closer to the centre of the city, more and more people got onto the tube. All different and with different purposes in their lives; some were minor businessman, others were teachers, school moms, and in this city, maybe there were even some mob guys in the mix.

I got off at one stop away from the metro station centre; Wayne Tower. It's where all the trains terminated and then went back the way they came. I walked down the steps in the station and ended up in the bright sunshine on what was clearly a main street. As I suspected there might have been, there was a tourist information booth next to the station and I used it to pick up a map. I retreated into a corner to peruse it; they always say that you should never read a map in the middle of the street because it immediately makes you a target for anyone who's looking for someone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing.

The map told me that if I headed up a street I would find the main shopping district with two different malls. I suspected that _Bergdorf's _might be a little bit out of my price range so I headed for the other one. I was in luck because this one was clearly much more like it, upon entering the first shop I saw prices such as $20 for a top, and $45 for a jacket; this I could about afford.

A few hours later I emerged back into the winter sunshine, my arms laden with bags, and my (new) purse $240 lighter. I had bought various clothes, but I had also bought some food, some stuff suitable for work and a small plant to start out on the garden. I was not in awe of the idea of getting back on the train and walking back to the apartment, but I wasn't too keen on the thought of getting into a taxi on my own.

I thought I might get a bite to eat somewhere first though and headed back onto the street to find a little café. There were lots of people about, and even totally laden with bags as I was, I could blend in fairly easily. I was just above average height for most ladies but I certainly wasn't head and shoulders above the rest.

I found a small café with a red awning just off the main street I was on and headed into it, ordering a coffee and a sandwich. We had only been allowed coffee on very special occasions in the institute so I was taking every opportunity I could get to have some. I was the only one in the café when I had walked in but as my coffee arrived, two other people walked in. One was a girl who I didn't recognise, but the other I most certainly did. His face had been splashed on the front page of Maggie's newspaper only a few weeks ago; it was Bruce Wayne.

What on earth was a man as rich as him doing in a tiny café like this? Surely he should be having lunch at the Ritz, or the Four Seasons? I gawked as she and he ordered their food; he was very tall and dark, and the navy suit jacket did nothing to hide the fact that he was very much in shape. Only when he looked over did I realize I was staring and then blush heavily, looked down at the table and my newly arrived food.

I tried not to listen in to the conversation that was going on a few tables away from me, but it was very hard because we were the only people in the café. It was clear the two at the table were very close friends and they were talking about someone who had just been discovered and what to do it about it. None of my business I kept telling myself, I finished my food as quickly as possible and got to my feet. I had paid the bill but left a few dollars tip on the table. I had to load myself up again with all of my bags and sadly it made quite a lot of noise. I wanted to disappear into the floor as the glamourous two at the looked over at me.

"Hey, do you want a hand?" asked the girl standing up and beginning to head over.

"No, thanks, I'll be okay" I said blushing furiously as I dropped something attempting to pick up the last back.

"Here," she said kindly and handed the bag which I had just dropped.

"You don't have to walk far do you?" she asked sweetly.

"Um," I said quietly, "No I was going to catch the monorail"

"Are you new to Gotham?" came the male voice over the woman's shoulder. Oh god, Bruce Wayne was talking to me, and in this most embarrassing circumstance.

"Er, I suppose" I said with a pathetic shrug, not looking up into his face.

"You better catch a cab, if you get on the train with all that, you'll get back home with less than half of it" he said, "Are you with anyone?"

I shook my head, now fervently praying for the ability to disappear to suddenly materialise itself.

"No," I said looking into his face quickly, "But thanks for the advice; I'll catch a taxi"

I tried to shuffle out of the café with the little scrap of dignity I had left when I noticed that the girl had followed me out.

"I thought I better to hail it for you," she said, "You might drop everything again"

I couldn't help but smile involuntarily as she said this, and then followed her words and hailed me a cab.

"Thank you," I said as the driver helped me with my bags and let me in.

"No worries, new-to-Gotham-girl" she said with a grin, "Glad to help"

I got in to the back of the cab and put my belt on.

"Where to?" asked the driver turning around slightly in his seat.

"44th and 52nd, the Narrows" I said to him. Out of the corner of my eye, through the open window, I saw the girl's face frown very slightly as she moved to go back to the café and to Bruce.


	8. A Two Sided Coin

Chapter Eight

My alarm went off at half past six the following morning with a loud repeated bleeping, and I was immediately awake. It was my first day of work today and I couldn't be happier… or more anxious. I got myself ready in double quick time and contemplated what to have for breakfast. In the end I couldn't bring myself to do much more than nibble on the edge of a piece of toast. It seemed stupid that I was this nervous, but I couldn't help worry about things; what if I messed up completely?

I told myself to calm down and be sensible, it's not as if Dr. Crane would let me run riot with the drugs and the patients. I wasn't going to kill anyone; I'd probably be dealing with admin and forms for ages until I'd done the required studying. I'd picked out a simple white shirt and a black knee length skirt to go to work in. I figured it was appropriate unless I was given something special to wear.

I was standing out on the tiny balcony, (that now had a rose plant standing in the corner), enjoying the cold morning air on my cheeks, when I heard a knock on the door. I turned around and shut the door to the outside before going to answer it. On the threshold stood Jonathon, a smile on his face and his workbag slung over his shoulder. His shirt was half untucked and he looked like he'd been in a rush; I'd never seen him look anything other than perfect so I couldn't help grin slightly at this.

"Ready?" he asked me, taking in my clearly nervous expression that returned after the brief grin faded.

"As I'll ever be," I said with a shrug, picking up my own bag, which I'd left by the front door before heading outside.

"Come on then, I usually walk to work, but this morning I've got a car to come and pick us up," he said as I locked the door to my flat and put the key into my bag.

"Okay cool," I said, "It's not far though, right?"

"No," he said, "It shouldn't take us three minutes in a car, it usually takes me about ten minutes to walk"

"Oh okay," I said with a smile, "I'll have to mark the route out on my map!"

"So you managed okay yesterday?" he said as we walked down the stairs, "I'm sorry I mostly abandoned you, but there was a crisis at work"

"It's alright," I said, "It was actually really liberating to be out on my own in the city. I took the monorail into the town."

He smiled and I looked across, "What?"

"The way you talk about it, so happily, it's strange because it's things that most people take for granted," he said with a shrug.

I blushed slightly, "Well it's quite exciting for me"

"I imagine it is," he said as we stepped outside and were greeted by the same car that had dropped us off the day before yesterday. I got in the back door of the passenger side, whilst Jonathon walked around to get in the seat behind the driver.

"Did you manage to get everything you wanted?" he said as we settled in and I clipped up my seatbelt.

"Yes, I think so," I said, "I probably forgot something important but I haven't figured it out yet! I spent most of the money I got, and also ran into Bruce Wayne."

Jonathon smirked, "Literally ran into him?"

"Well not literally, but he talked to me when I was in a café," I said, "I'd dropped all my stuff and nearly died of embarrassment"

He laughed, "How did you manage that? You're first ever day out in Gotham and you manage to meet the man that hordes of women across the city practically stalk, and still never meet"

I giggled nervously, "Luck?"

He shrugged and the car made a sharp left; as we turned through some ominous looking gates that then clanged shut behind us. The building in front of us was huge, gloomy, and with dark mullioned windows. Not unlike the institute from the outside, but I knew the inside would be oh so different.

I got out of the car and slung my bag over my shoulder before following Dr. Crane through the front door of the place. The wrought metal sign above the doorway announced we were now entering ARKHAM, and the small plaque beside the heavy door told me that only authorised personnel were allowed to enter. I guessed I was one of those authorised people now.

"Morning Dr." said a girl who was sat at a dark wood desk in the first room we went into. The room was very dark itself, even though there was a huge window in there. I think the dark paneling and the wrought iron décor did nothing for the aesthetics of the place.

"Morning Sarah," he said as we moved on, implying that I should follow him, "She's in charge of administration here, anybody comes in, goes out, takes a drug, tests a product etc., Sarah knows about it. You ever need to track down some paperwork, just ask her and she'll be on it."

"Okay," I said as we reached a spiral staircase going upwards, Dr. Crane started up them, taking the steps two at a time, causing me to have to hurry after him. I was wearing shined black shoes with a very slight heel – I thought any higher than that would be inappropriate for work and also, having very little practice in heels, also intensely impractical for me to walk in.

"Right, this is my office, you can leave your bag in here, if you ever need me; I'll either be in here, or you can use the pager on the desk to find me," he said, dropping his own bag on the pine desk, not bothering to take anything out of it.

"Alright," I said putting my bag down lightly and looking around. The office itself was fairly spacious, as I'd expect because Dr. Crane was clearly and important man here at the Asylum. I jumped as I heard a horrid yell from down the corridor before it was quickly silenced. I didn't need to ask what it was, even though it had surprised me; apparently one of the inmates was having a bad day.

"Right, well I guess I'll show you around?" Dr. Crane said as I stood awkwardly near the door. I nodded eagerly, I would just be glad to get started.

The place was much as I had imagined it to be. Offices on the very top floor, where we had begun, and then rows of locked up cell rooms on the two floors beneath that. On the basement floor were labs, interview rooms and storage rooms. The building was built in something of a square, surrounding a large open-air courtyard in which some of the 'safer' inmates were allowed into once a day. The courtyard had stairs coming down from every level within it, and guards were stood at various platforms around the edge.

Dr. Crane had acquainted me with some of the inmates who he was working with at that current time. Three of them worked for the mob, one for Falcone himself. I may have lived in the institute for a very long time, but everyone knew who Carmine Falcone was and what he was responsible for. I listened in wonderous horror as Dr. Crane told me their stories; their crimes were innumerable, and they had rightly been put in prison where they had quickly fallen into insanity. Nobody was quite sure how it happened; maybe the walls of the prison were closing in a little too fast, but they had all ended up here, in the care and jurisdiction of Dr. Crane.

We were currently stood in one of the cells where one of the men was being held in solitary confinement. He was strapped to a chair to prevent him from harming himself and his head was twitching from left to right. His lips were moving fast in unintelligible words and he was drooling very slightly.

"What's he saying?" I asked the Dr as he watched him dispassionately.

"Patients tend to fixate upon some manifestation of the their fears," he said, "At the moment he's just rambling, but sometimes he says something coherent. Anyway, enough of scaring you; let's go to the lab."

"I wasn't scared," I said as we left the room and the Dr. locked the door behind us.

"Of course you weren't," he said, "But the look on your face told me that you weren't having a whale of a time"

"Party in the cells?" I said as we got into the rickety elevator that serviced the building, "Yeah, I'm sure that's great fun"

Dr. Crane let out a breath of laughter as we rattled downwards, "Now obviously you'll have a lot of literature to read, and all sorts of procedures to take in and the such like. I'm sure you'll be fine though, you're working with some of the best scientists this city has to offer; and as you said, you're a fast learner."

I nodded, not daring to say a word about my nerves or anything like that. I knew most people would have to have done a degree to get anywhere near stuff like this. Again I had to shake of the nagging questions as to why Dr. Crane decided he was going to help me, why he was going to give me the break I had so desperately needed.

"What you'll do is pick up the literature and the test examples, and then you're going to sit in with me for two weeks. In between my interviews and sessions with various people you will study in my office," said Dr. Crane as we entered one of the labs.

"Here put this on," said the doctor, handing me a white coat that had been hanging on the back of the door. I shrugged it on and did up the front two buttons; the coat came down to my knees and hung over my wrists so I had to roll up the sleeves slightly.

"I don't think they're doing anything too important in here today, but lab protocol is that lab coats must be worn at all times when you are inside," he said.

"Okay," I said as we walked over to a corner where a scientist was working on two clear substances that were bubbling away in test tubes. He was wearing safety goggles, but he didn't have gloves on so I surmised the substances weren't all that dangerous.

"What's he doing?" I asked Dr. Crane, not wishing to interrupt the scientist who was clearly concentrating.

"That's a dilute solution of one of the latest compounds we're working on; he's trying to separate it into its original components and work out what their properties in relation to the human mind is. He's been at it for three weeks already," he said

"And?" I asked

"We've managed to isolate the core carbon groups, which aren't much help to anyone, and now he's working on the other parts of it," he said.

I nodded and watched with keen interest as the steam from one of the test tubes went up into a glass cylinder that was surrounded by cooling agent. This meant the steam began to condense; the various components in the substance condensing at different rates to they could be collected separately.

The door opened suddenly and Sarah walked in, "Dr. Crane?"

He turned around to answer her, "Yes?"

"The D.A's office is on the phone, they need you to go to the courthouse for three, a case concerning Mr. Hooper…" she said hurriedly.

"Oh yes, of course," he said and I saw a flicker of annoyance cross his face, "Tell them I'll be there"

She nodded and headed out again, presumably to call the D.A's office back.

"Alright well, let's go find your stuff and you can get started. I'd take you down to the courtroom but I think this one might be a bit messy because it's so ad hoc. There's another hearing tomorrow, for a Mr. Zsaz, perhaps you'd like to come to that one?" Dr. Crane said to me.

"That would be good," I said slightly shocked, I hadn't expected him to want me there.

"It won't be that interesting," he said in his low drawl, "Don't get too excited"

"I like to learn about all aspects of what goes on here," I said with a lighthearted smile.

"Hmmm, well that might not be such a good idea," he said with an equally lighthearted smile and then turned away. I frowned slightly, confused about what he had just said, but then shrugged and followed after him anyway.

It was nearing six in the evening when Dr. Crane came back into the office, his face was creased into a frown and he looked like he had just come from having an argument with someone. I didn't say anything as he stalked in but he jumped as he saw me.

"I didn't expect you to still be here," he said

"I just got caught up in reading," I said holding up one of the tomes I had been set as part of the learning literature.

He smiled and after putting a few things on the desk into his bag turned back to me, "I'm in need of a drink, want to come? Celebrate your first day?"

"Errr, yeah sure," I said, "I'm not old enough though…"

He chuckled, "Ivy, this is Gotham and also, you look old enough"

My brows shot up in surprise for a moment, before I shrugged and shoved the heavy book into my bag.

"Alright, let's go then," I said standing up and smoothing out my skirt. I pretended not to notice that Dr. Crane's eyes followed my hands as I did so, I smiled brightly and followed him out of the room.

Arkham was mostly quiet as we walked through it towards the main door; the inmates had their evening medication and were in their cells for the night. The night wardens were on duty, their black suits looking foreboding and depressing in equal measure. A few them wished us a good night, others were as a silent as statues when we passed.

The night air was cold and I wished I'd brought my newly bought coat out with me. I tried not to shiver as we walked out of the gates and down the streets, I was mildly perturbed by the idea of walking through the Narrows at night but Dr. Crane didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. The buildings towered over us like overhanging vultures and we just continued on our way. A few people passed us, but they were mostly just scared housewives, bent cops or street vendors selling the last of their wares before heading back to their homes.

"Here it is," said Jonathon after only two minutes of walking. The doorway to the place was unassuming and the wooden door creaked slightly as he pushed it open.

Inside it was quite dark and there were small groups of people gathered in various places around the bar. Nobody batted an eyelid as we came in and went to the bar. There was a cluster of bar stools gathered in front of it, but only one man was actually sitting on one, his head on the bar in front of him; either asleep or passed out.

"Usual Dr?" asked the man behind the bar

"Yes please," he said, reaching in his pocket to get some money out.

"And what about your lady friend?" asked the bartender as he turned his back.

Jonathon looked across at me and I momentarily dithered as I looked at all the bottles hanging upside down on the other side of the bar.

"Errr… a vodka and lemonade please," I said quickly and watched the barman pour it and then hand it across the scrubbed wooden bar. Jonathon paid and then we went to sit down.

"Thanks for that," I said as we found some seats in the corner, "What did you get?"

"Double Jack and coke," he said taking a large gulp, "Man I need tonight."

"Bad day at the office?" I joked, not asking him about the court case, I waited for him to tell me if he wanted to.

"Something like that," he said and he looked troubled for a moment before he shrugged and shook it off, "But it doesn't matter; everything will work out fine in the end"

"I hope so," I said, not really knowing what he was talking about.

He smiled across at me and I looked up into his face, feeling an intense rush of gratitude for this man. He had helped me so much and I couldn't describe how much I was in his debt for that. I don't think he even realised it; he couldn't know how truly terrible the institute had been. So therefore he didn't know what hell he had pulled me from. I was so glad that I hadn't 'celebrated' my eighteenth birthday in that place.

"Ivy I-,"

Jonathon started to say something but he didn't get very far as the door to the bar banged open and three men burst in.

"Alright, you all know what this is, wallets please and no one gets hurt!" yelled the man who was in the front of the group and fired a pistol at the ceiling just to prove his point. Every muscle in my body had frozen, terrified, by the man beside me remained relaxed even in the face of this very real danger.

The men made their way around the bar and gathered the money they wanted before reaching us in our secluded corner. Jonathon hadn't shifted an inch in all the time they had been here, and his breathing hadn't even changed pace.

"Evening Dr," said the man with a sneer, he had a scar across his left brow that made his eye look stretched at an odd angle, "You know the drill"

Jonathon didn't break eye contact as he reached into his wallet and threw $40 across the table, "That's all I have,"

"It might be all you have," said the man, now backed up by the first man who was wielding the pistol, "But what about your little girlfriend here? What's in the bag lady?"

"Nothing," I said, sounding much more confident than I felt. The man scoffed, clearly not believing me before he knelt down to riffle through my bag. At the same moment he did so, I felt his hand on my ankle and across the bottom of my calf, his thumb stroking steadily. I reacted instinctively, and with the other foot, kicked out and hit the guy in the face. He dropped back immediately with a cry, holding his nose that was now streaming blood.

"Well you did kind of deserve it," said the guy wielding the gun, "Shame it was very stupid on your part Miss,"

He moved closer towards me with a leery grin, causing me to move backwards in my seat until I was pressed up against the fabric.

"Hey, leave her alone, she hasn't got anything," said Jonathon to my left. The guy looked at him, his gaze shifting from my eyes to Jonathon's, I don't know what he saw there but clearly something he didn't want to mess with, seeing as he moved backward slightly. I didn't dare look to my right and catch a glimpse of what the mugger might have seen in those dark orbs.

"Alright Ste, we got we came for, let's go" said the guy backing away from us, motioning to the guy by the door and clamping his hand on the shoulder of the guy whose nose was still streaming blood. The guy looked as if he were about to argue but a crunch on his shoulder reminded him who was boss.

They left; and nobody stopped them.

There was a moment of silence in the bar before everybody shook themselves slightly, and cautious chatter resumed throughout the room. Jonathon didn't say anything but the fist that had been on the table relaxed and his fingers stretched out.

"I'm sorry," he said at last.

That made me turn to face him, "Sorry? For what? It wasn't your fault!"

He didn't say anything but pulled a slight face, "Do you want to go back? Maybe enjoy a drink in a marginally safer place?"

I wasn't going to argue with him; he looked very uncomfortable with the thought of staying here any longer, his face was troubled and his eyes slightly shadowed.

"Alright, let's go" He got to his feet first and was almost out the door by the time I had picked up my bag. I hurried after him, hoping there was no more of Gotham's underworld lurking outside of the door.


	9. An Argument With A Straw Man

A/N - Reviews are always welcome! Thanks! :)

Chapter Nine

The air was cold tonight, as was to be expected in the first few weeks of February. I didn't mind the cold as much as others might, an enjoyed the freshness the crisp air brought to my thoughts.

I looked down from the lofty balcony upon which I stood, around my new neighborhood. The tenements and apartment blocks around me were crammed together, looking like upturned cardboard boxes due to the dark colour of the brick. The darkness of the night had caused lights to be turned on in various windows; some of it soft light, others the harsh glare of strip lighting. From here I could see into some of the windows; people cooking, people watching movies, one man on the phone who was leaning against the window of his living room, just across the road from me. He looked angry and seemed to be shouting at the person on the other end of the line; I wondered what they were fighting about. Maybe he was breaking up with his girlfriend. I tried not to let my eyes linger on any of the windows for too long in case anyone thought I was prying on them. They might not be able to actually see me; I hadn't turned the lights on in my apartment when I came in so they might not be able to pick my silhouette out against the darkness of my apartment windows.

The street down below had bare trees, a few bearing the first buds of spring on them, lining the cracked and worn out road. My gaze followed the row of copper beeches up the street until the reached the corner of 44th and 52nd. I could just make out two men on the corner, one handed a small bag to the other and in return the other passed him what looked like a fistful of cash. I wasn't in the least bit surprised about witnessing the drugs trade first hand, this was Old Gotham after all. I did wonder whether anything would shock me anymore after all the events of tonight. My first five days out in the real world had been something of a rude awakening to say the least. I thought I knew what tough meant, being raised where I had been, having seen what I had seen. But these days had shown me that tough wasn't merely the face I presented to the outside world; to stop stupid little girls like Lia from bugging me whilst I was in my moments of solitude; tough was about forming a steely core on the inside, one that nobody could break down. The armed man in the bar tonight had clearly seen a weakness in me, that's why he thought he could threaten me, and it was only when he saw

A breeze rushed down the street between the blocks of flats that raised goose pimples on my skin; I suppressed a shiver. All the things I was thinking about tonight were jostling for attention in my head and I attempted to sort them so I could think about them in a rational way. I needed to process what had just happened.

_One Hour Previously_

_The click of the apartment door seemed strangely reassuring; as did the clunk of the lock as the key was turned by Jonathon's hand. He had seemed agitated on the quick walk back to the apartment, barely speaking to me in the short five minutes that it had taken. I had followed behind him, keeping up the pace with his long strides and the swish of his camel coloured trench coat. _

_I'd never seen him like this before. Every time I'd seen him before he'd been calm and collected, his features serene in his angular face. Now he seemed angry about something, agitated and more aggressive in the way he walked; the way he moved. I didn't try and engage him conversation, something told me that he wouldn't answer me anyway. _

_We reached our apartment building in double quick time and I followed him into the dark entrance hall. He didn't bother turning the lights on; the emergency stairwell lights were just enough to see by and I kept my eyes on the swing of his coat as my heels clicked on the stairs. We reached his apartment door and I realised that this was the first time I would have been inside. I didn't have any time to think about what it might be like before I was faced with the reality. It was immaculate, as I suspected it might be. It was very minimalist and there were books lining three out of four walls in the main living space. It wasn't much bigger than my apartment, although I did notice the Jonathon had managed to fit a small dining table in this room. _

_He moved straight over to the kitchen, dropping his bag beside one of the units, and got what looked like a bottle of vodka out of the cupboard. He got a short tumbler and poured a measure before knocking it straight back. I was slightly taken aback by this action; I hadn't imagined him to be a hardcore drinker. He put the glass down rather harder than was necessary and looked over at me. _

_"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. I didn't say anything and shrugged slightly, dumping my bag on the floor. He shrugged out of his trench coat, laying it over the top of one of the units, revealing the white shirt and tie he had worn to court this afternoon. _

_"Sometimes alcohol is necessary in this town," he said, "Would you like a drink?" _

_There was something in his voice that told me this was not really a request. _

_"Er, yeah sure, I'll have whatever you're having" I said, trying to keep an edge out of my voice. He smiled, his face relaxing slightly and in doing so made me feel slightly less edgy. He poured a double measure of whatever was in the bottle into his glass and then another double into a clean one from the cupboard. He thankfully mixed it with lime and lemonade before handing it to me; my limited experience with alcohol told me that I didn't want to drink it straight. _

_"Thanks," I said before taking a sip. It was still strong, and the bitter taste of the vodka was harsh on my tongue but I swallowed it anyway and felt the warmth of the alcohol settle in the pit of my stomach. _

_"I'm sorry you had to be part of that tonight," said Jonathon, again not sounding particularly sorry at all. _

_"It wasn't your fault," I said as he made his way over to the plush red sofa and sat down upon it. He motioned that I should join him and I did so with some hesitancy in my movements yet a look of serenity on my face; he was close to me, his knee touching mine. I looked into his eyes and saw a fire and a question that I had never seen there before. It intrigued me and yet scared me at the same time; it made my heart beat a little bit faster. _

_"What do you think about crime Ivy?" he asked me, his gaze never leaving mine. He had always been intense, even in our preliminary interviews, but something about the look behind this look made it impossible to pull mine away. _

_"It's abhorrent," I said to him, my body as frozen as my stare. His gaze was almost hypnotising._

_"In all forms?" he asked, "Don't you think sometimes it can be necessary?" _

_"In what way?" I asked taking a swift drink, the alcohol warm on my lips that I swiftly licked away. _

_"Do you sometimes think that crime has to be fought on it's own level? That justice is too far removed from it?" he said, breaking his gaze for a moment as he took a large gulp of his own cocktail. _

_"I hadn't ever thought about it before," I said, "But if we can't place our faith in justice then what can we?"_

_"Has justice ever delivered anything to Gotham?" he mused, only answering my questions with further ones of his own. _

_"Maybe we just took the wrong fork in the road when we had the chance," I said, unsure as where this conversation might be heading. _

_"Do you think we have a chance to turn back then?" he asked, "Or is the system so broken that it can't be fixed?" _

_"But we're part of it!" I protested, "We deal with criminals"_

_"Yes, but it's not up to us to sentence then. We just help those who are clinically insane" he said sharply, "Remember that; we don't judge them"_

_"How can you help it though?" I said, "Murderers, mobsters, kidnappers… it doesn't want for sympathy"_

_Jonathon looked at me for a moment before speaking, "You're so young Ivy"_

_"Don't patronise me," I said sharply, "I'm not that young,"_

_"Hmm," he said and I saw his fingers twitch, as if in anger, "So you could never empathise with criminals? They're wrong in every sense of the word? They should be punished? Whatever the cost?" _

_The intensity was back and I nodded, not daring myself to speak. His body was tight with tension and I could feel it even under my own skin. I didn't quite understand this side of him; this side of him that demanded answers from me, made me respond to his questions without even really thinking about my words. This was something that nobody had been able to make me do before. _

_I opened my mouth to speak but before I could even form the words, his lips were on mine. I was too shocked to even think for a moment; his lips were soft and the kiss had stolen my breath. It wasn't sweet or gentle. It was aggressive and in the split second between his lips meeting mine and me registering what was going on; I kissed back. My thoughts had refused to activate and I let him deepen the kiss; him leading in a dominating manner that I had never seen from him before tonight. I couldn't help but close my eyes at the sheer forcefulness of his actions. _

_His hand was on my hip and the side of my face and I moved my hand to his shoulder and back; feeling the very slight muscles of the male body underneath the shirt. My heartbeat was flying and my tummy had tightened at the thought of this man kissing me. _

_He broke away for a moment and I opened my eyes; his fiery hazel orbs glaring into mine and he smirked very slightly as his gaze dropped to my slightly open lips, emitting short breaths of shock. _

_Then he kissed me again; even harder than before, and I couldn't help but be borne backwards slightly towards the armrest of the couch; feeling it across my shoulder blades. His hand moved from my hip to my thigh and I felt it warm on my soft skin. My hand moved to tangle in his hair, it very soft and silky under my touch. _

_I hadn't had chance to think about where this might be going, or the consequences of my actions before he was gone. The weight and heat of his body had gone and my eyes flew open at the sudden loss. He was stood on the other side of the room, by the window, his back half turned to me. _

_"Jonathon what-?" I started to say but I saw his shoulders tense up so I stopped talking. _

_"Get out," he said and there was a hint of urgency in his voice, "Go home Ivy" _

_I couldn't quite believe what he'd said for a moment. He'd just been kissing me as if he needed me for oxygen and now he was telling to leave? I got slowly to my feet, wondering if he might change his mind but he was now staring out of the window; his back completely turned to me. I picked up my bag and left; not giving him a chance to see one second of my vulnerability. _

_I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt. _

Well what did he know anyway? He didn't really know the first thing about me; so why should his rejection hurt me?

I decided it wasn't going to and with that thought in my head, I turned away from the cold night of Gotham and towards my comfy bed.


	10. Fragile Structures Fall Down Fast

Author's Note:

My apologies it's been so long! I was on roll with getting these written, but then I just became so busy! I went to a secret Green Day show down in London so that threw me off for at least a week, I was busy with work and then it was my birthday... it's all been go! I hope to have more chapters out faster than this one (and also better quality than this one!), please bear with me guys. :)

Thanks,

I

XO

Chapter Ten

I was just finishing up my breakfast of fresh fruit and cereal the following morning when there was a knock on the door. I knew who it was, due to the fact that nobody else knew where I lived, but was surprised that he was coming knocking; last night he'd been really angry at me, so what was this about?

I slid the chain off the hook and opened the door to see Jonathon stood on the other side with his hands in his pockets (something I had never seen before), looking extremely sheepish. His camel coloured trench coat lay in a heap on the floor, slung messily over his briefcase.

"Hi?" I said questioningly, unsure as to what his exact purpose outside my door was. I wasn't entirely sure why I wanted him to be there.

"I'm sorry for last night Ivy," he said, making no bones about it.

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow very slightly, "What? Sorry you kissed me or sorry you yelled at me?"

"A bit of both?" he suggested with a sorry look in his usually serene eyes; this wasn't the same Jonathon I had been presented with last night. The fire, the anger and the desperation had gone.

I didn't say anything, slightly confused by the answer he had given me, but he continued where I would have spoken anyway; "I'm not sorry that I kissed you entirely, I'm sorry about the way it happened; I wasn't really feeling myself last night. I think you're a sweet, smart and stunning girl Ivy and I kissed you because I wanted to…"

I was intensely taken aback as he said this; I'd never had much inclination of these feelings from him before. I knew we were casual friends but I didn't know he thought of me like that; I had never had any experience with boys or men, so I knew little of how I should react. I enjoyed spending time with Jonathon and he was definitely handsome, even I could see that. And he was a good kisser; last night had proven that.

"I was wondering; seeing as we kind of did stuff backwards, do you want to go see a movie sometime?" he said, not taking my lack of replies as discouragement.

"Yeah sure, why not?" the words were out of my mouth before I'd even properly considered them.

His serious face broke into a smile and I couldn't help but smile back at the slight look of relief that showed on his features.

He straightened up then, and I moved back to let him into the apartment.

"Ready for work?" he asked with a slight smirk, back into the fact that he was actually my boss, and the one who should be in charge in our situations together. My momentary position had power had vanished.

"So if you just want to sit at the back of the room and just observe, take notes if you will…" said Dr. Crane as we entered the small courtroom where the hearing was taking place.

We were one of the first people into this room, the only other person in there being the court scribe. The room was wood paneled and there was a bookshelf on one of the walls; the books were covered in dust and looked like they hadn't been picked up in years. I surmised they were more for decoration than for use. There were four desks in here; one where Jonathon would sit, one where the defendant one sit, and also where the person who was challenging the insanity plea would sit.

I glanced at the clock that told me it was nearly eleven; when the hearing would start. I headed for my little desk and got myself sorted out; I was interested to see how this went, would this patient actually show obvious signs of insanity? Probably not, I thought, otherwise he wouldn't have been deemed safe to be in here.

The door opened and I looked up from my seat to see a familiar face walk through it. It was the woman who had been with Bruce Wayne that day in the café – I didn't know her name. I noticed an instant prickle of animosity between Jonathon and the woman, but before either of them could open their mouths to compound this feeling the door opened again to reveal the protection officer, the defendant and the judge.

The hearing itself was pretty straightforward; the defendant said nothing whilst his protection officer listed various incidents that had occurred over the preceding weeks that showed he was a danger to himself. All Dr Crane had to do was provide examples on both sides of the case that showed why treatment at Arkham was more suitable for this patient than his retention in county. The lady's main line of argument was that with someone who's crimes were as despicable as Mr. Zsaz's, there was no place better for him than the county jail.

Needless to say she didn't stand much of a chance after some of the example of what he had attempted in the past few weeks. The case was over and done with within a matter of half an hour and we arose to depart at dead on half past.

The woman lawyer looked entirely unsurprised by the verdict of insanity, but it still didn't make her look any less peeved. Zsaz was led away by his protection officer and the judge hastily departed the uncomfortable tension in the stuffy room. The lawyer didn't say anything to Jonathon but she looked intensely angered by his presence and I vaguely wondered why. She looked as if she was holding herself back from saying something, merely because I was in the room. Had these two had a confrontation in the past? It certainly seemed that way.

Jonathon's phone rang as he was just finishing packing up his stuff, he fished in the pocket of his suit jacket and answered it.

"Yes," he said, after the person on the other end had clearly asked him a question. The female lawyer was snapping the clasps shut on her bag and made to leave.

"We need to discuss something," he said hastily before the other person hung up, "The same problem as last time?"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," he said and snapped the phone shut.

"Ivy, I need to go meet with someone," he said unnecessarily, "Are you alright to have lunch in the city and then make your own way back to work? I'll meet you back there later"

"Yeah that's fine," I said, "I'll see you back there,"

He smiled, one that lit up his eyes with a gentle ease and he turned to exit the courtroom, leaving me alone to finish clipping my papers into the file. Almost as soon as the door had snapped shut to announce his departure did it open again.

"Sorry, I'll be out in a second," I said shoving the file into my bag without lifting my head.

"It's alright, it's just me," said the voice of the new occupant of the room.

I looked up to see the brunette lawyer stood near the door.

"It's Ivy right?" she said with a steady smile, "We met the other week…"

"Yeah, I remember" I said with the hint of a blush at the memory of that day.

"We've never been properly introduced," she said, "I'm Rachel Dawes and I work in the D.A's office"

"Oh," I said unsure of what to say, Jonathon had had plenty of bad things to say about the D.A's office in the time since I had started working with him.

She read the look on my face and smiled ruefully, "I expect you've not heard good things about us; Dr. Crane and myself have something of a professional rivalry"

I nodded but the look on her face told me that this wasn't the whole truth. I didn't really expect it to be; she knew I was working with Jonathon, and we had only been properly introduced within the last two minutes, why would she tell me the truth?

"Are you going straight back to work?" she asked, but her expression told me she already knew the answer.

"No," I said, "I need to find lunch in the city,"

"Well I'm meeting up with a friend at midday; do you want to join us?" she said.

"Oh I don't want to intrude on anything…" I said with a blush, not wishing to mention that I didn't have much money.

"You wouldn't be intruding," she said encouragingly, "It's fine. He's very friendly."

I dithered for a moment before shrugging lamely in an affirmative.

"Great," she said with a smile that lit up her face, "It's a bit of a walk; you don't mind do you? I prefer walking to taking a cab,"

"That's alright," I said as we left the small courtroom behind us.

As we left the imposing building with it's Gothic gargoyles leaning off the side of it, Rachel's phone rang; some pop song that I vaguely recognised.

"Hey Bruce," she said answering, "It was our ringtone!"

There was a pause as he spoke and I digested the fact that she was talking to the stylised Prince of Gotham.

"You did it?!" she exclaimed, "Oh Bruce that's fantastic; yeah I'll be there in about ten minutes…. Okay, see you then!"

I felt as if I had just swallowed a brick; we were having lunch with Bruce Wayne?


End file.
